MOSCOW, December 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the view that all key decisions in Russia were exclusively his, not those of government or parliament.

"You are mistaken in the belief that all questions get to the head of state to a larger extent [than is actually the case]," he told a journalist at his session with the media on Thursday. "This is not so," Putin said.

The president recalled his experience when holding the post of prime minister. "A colossal amount of work is done by the government," he said. "Even the prime minister is not aware of everything that is going on there," Putin said.

"This [premiership] is the most hideous and most arduous work, as if one is constantly beneath a waterfall. All things constantly get collapsed," the head of state said. "It is just impossible to monitor everything. It is essential to set up machinery which will do this."

Putin acknowledged that the vast amount of work meant that some issues reached out to public discussion and became high-profile topics. This created a semblance that they were tackled directly by the president.

Among such matters was the criminal justice amnesty recently approved by parliament and the draft law which the president had referred to the State Duma.

"I suggested that parliament initiate this bill but, in the end, they proposed that this be done by me," Putin said, adding that discussion was easier within the framework of parliament.